A Flock of Sidekicks
by iadorespunk
Summary: Batman is missing, and Oracle has called in some old allies to get him back.Rating might change to M as the story progresses.
1. Chapter 1

A Flock of Sidekicks

By: Sierra Nelson

Chapter 1

**A WARNING BEFORE READING** _Because of the concept idea behind my plot in the story, the age differences between the characters will have to be changed a bit, but I will stick to their original back stories as much as possible, because we all know the original is the best. If you have any issues with the age gaps between certain characters I do apologize ahead of time. Thank you for reading and please RR. _

_-_Dick Grayson: Nightwing

I was running. I couldn't tell if I was fleeing or chasing, but I was definitely running. I couldn't tell where I was either. It wasn't dark though, like your stereotypical running dreams. It was bright, not sunny, but bright, Brightness from an artificial light. Very...bright. The echoes from my hasty steps were unfamiliar as well. It didn't sound like tile from a nice high end building, or concrete from a warehouse. I had no hints of where I was. Above all these confusing factors was what I was wearing, my suit. Not my black and blue Nightwing suit, but my Robin one. Good ol' classic boy wonder red, green, and yellow, but I wasn't a boy. Same age, just old suit. How on earth did that thing fit me?

Simple ringing stopped my running abruptly. I didn't wake up sweaty and gasping, but it wasn't a pleasant Sunday morning either. In fact, it was 1 a.m. Crime in Gotham was at a steady gas station robbery twice a week, so I actually got to be asleep at 1 a.m. I could see my Nightwing suit slung over the edge of the bed. No green, red or yellow. Why was I Robin? After pondering over this for a few moments I remembered why I was awake, the ringing. I looked over at the simple flip phone on the side table. Nothing, which meant whoever was calling, was calling for Nightwing, not Dick Grayson. I should've known, I don't have friends that are awake at 1 a.m. anyways. I grabbed the blue bird shaped phone from my utility belt. Got to stick to a theme. The name that showed worried me a bit. Oracle. Which meant Bruce needed help, which meant this was a very big deal. I answered the phone and a very interesting conversation began.

"Oracle."

"Dick."

"If you're going to use this phone you might as well use the right name" I smirked

"I apologize." She didn't giggle, no since of humor was on the other side of the phone.

"I'm assuming this isn't about a surprise birthday party for the old man is it?" Still trying to be witty, what can I say? It's in my nature.

"Dick. I can't find him" She was serious, and scared.

"What that supposed to mean? He's prone to disappearing; it's sort of his thing. Give him a day I'm sure he'll pop in for a hello."

"This is different. I've got nothing on him. No tracking GPS. No random bat symbol anywhere, no unexplainable gust of wind and a quick glimpse of a black cape. Nothing." She was almost frantic.

"Does your dad know anything? Have you talked to him?" I was suggesting anything to calm her down.

"Yes I have, and no he doesn't. Dick I thought of everything, but this is serious and I need your help. Come down to the Cave, I have something to show you."

"Alright I understand, I'm on my way." I was about to hang up and dash, but she wasn't done talking yet.

"Oh and, you're not the only one I called, so expect company." A pause.

"Who else did you call?"

"Just some...trustful and well trained friends."

-Jason Todd: Red Hood

Gang members are annoying. Annoying, dirty rats of the crime chain. They're like the ponds in chess. So. Freaking. Annoying, and here I was surround by a whole swarm of them. Blacks, Mexicans, Whites, even some Asians, all wearing different colors. They weren't even a well organized gang, just sloppy, bad attitudes with guns and no concept of grammar. I was just trying to enjoy some late night greasy pizza and they ambush me. No reason what so ever. Not that they normal do. People just don't like me. Now were in the middle of some street in a standoff, guns out. Mine was aimed for an unlucky head while theirs were aimed for the street, light post, a bush, ect. Amateurs. They were threatening me, I wasn't listening. I just wanted to shoot them and go back to my pizza.

"Ok, how about you boys go back to the "Crib" and Ill pretend this never happened, and everything will be fine." I suggested. It would be sad to waste bullets. A gun was fired and I heard a "ping" from the light post I was closest to. I shook my head and sent a bullet into the dumbasses left thigh. He buckled down holding his leg and gritting his teeth. Now they were focused, and the weapons were pointed more intently at me. Good. They were learning. I couldn't help but smile, they couldn't see it underneath my helmet anyways. The serious, fight to the finish mood was ruined by an unannounced ringing in the calf pocket of my cargo pants. Seriously? I held up a "hold on" finger and reached down for my phone. The rats looked confused but obeyed. Dumbasses. I slid the phone open and rested it between my head and shoulder so I could have better hold of the gun. Not that I needed it.

"Yello, Gotham's number one badass, how can I help you?"

"Hello Jason." I knew her voice all too well. I backed down my defense mode and held on to the phone. No one shot me. They were still confused I guess; poor creatures.

"Barbra? I'm going to go out on a limb and say you've dialed the wrong number" I haven't talked to anyone from the bat side of the crime ladder. Not since Bruce solved the big Red Hood mystery. Not that it was much of one.

"No Jason. I meant to call you."

"Why?"

"He's gone Jason. I need your help to find him"

"Why don't you have someone else do it? I'm probably the last person he wants to see. The fact that I'm still on the phone with you is surprising."

"Jason, I understand things are... rough between you two, but I know you still care about him, or at least respect him. He needs your help." I clinched my jaw, and wanted to hang up, but I didn't.

"Call someone else. What about that Terry guy? Mr. Fancy Bat suit." I wasn't really a fan of the guy

"He's...unavailable at the moment. Jason, please. If I didn't think your help was required I wouldn't have called you." She was started to get frustrated, I could tell.

"I'll think about it." I quickly hung up the phone and noticed my posse of sharpshooters was gone. Did they get tired of waiting on me? Then I caught a glace of my shadow being casted from some blue and red lights flashing behind me. I rolled my eyes in my helmet and raised both hands in the air.

"No crime done here boys, just a dented lamp post. Besides, I have knight to go rescue."

-Tim Drake: Red Robin

Stephanie and I rode in silence. She didn't move, just looked out the window, and ignored me completely. I tried to say hello when I picked her up at the ally we decided to meet at, but she just slammed my door and sat down. She didn't even look at me. Girls could hold grudges for the longest time. We pulled up at the mansion around 3 a.m. I parked in the circle drive way, and Stephanie got out before I even turned off the car. A black Dodge Tomahawk was parked a few feet away from me, the electric blue, candy coated, sharp edged wings painted on each side of its tank barley glowed in the night. I couldn't help but grin, I always did look up to him. Another sport bike was parked right next to his. It was jet black, but that's all I could tell about it. I didn't recognize whose it was.

Stephanie and I waited by the front door for Barbra to answer it. I missed Alfred. He wouldn't have even waited for us to knock. He would've just been there, opening the door and saying "Welcome Master Drake." and probably offering us some tea as he led us to the Cave. Bruce didn't have a memorial service for him. At least not a big one, he said Alfred didn't want it. It was too risky for those who knew who batman was. Barbra opened the door with a warm smile on her face. For someone who sounded so restless on the phone, she seemed cheery. I guess she was trying to be a good hostess. She looked restless though, dark circles hid underneath her glasses and her red hair was up in a messy bun.

"Hello Barbra." Stephanie said politely. Finally she talks. I greeted her as well and she returned it. We stalked through the mansion without conversation. No questions, no catching up, nothing. Ramps were added to the house so Barbra could get around it easily, and the door ways were bigger so her chair could fit comfortably past them. It was cold and dark. No lights were on, and nobody else was in the house. When we entered the cave, two heads looked up at us. One of them had shaggy black hair that framed his chin, he grinned at us and I recognized him instantly. Dick Grayson. The other one I assumed was the owner of the other black bike. She had slick raven black hair cut short and choppy. She worn an all black riding suit and her face was twisted into an attitude; Cassandra Cain.


	2. Chapter 2

A Flock of Sidekicks

Chapter 2

-Cassandra Cain: Black Bat

Tim Drake was excited to see Dick, I could tell by the change in his posture. He stood taller, and walked just the slightest bit faster. Stephanie was excited to see me. You didn't need my enhanced skills to know that. The moment she saw me she had a skip in her step and came to hug me.

"It's so nice to see you" she said as we released each other.

"Same here." I tilted my head and half smiled. Tim nodded in my direction before reuniting with Grayson. It must be a Robin thing.

"So...how have you been?" Stephanie asked, obviously trying to shift her attention away from Tim Drake. I just gave her another half smile; she knew I didn't talk much.

"Looks like someone didn't get the memo. Dark hair only" Dick Grayson smiled at Stephanie. She looked down at her long, golden locks, and then smiled back up at him.

"Is everyone here now?" Dick asked as he met up with Oracle.

"Not quite, were still missing one person" She rolled up to her big database computer and started typing. Dicks face turned into one of concentration, then of...disappointment?

"Please tell me you didn't call him" His voice was rough.

"I did" Oracle answered, but kept her attention on the screen. I scanned through my head trying to think of who they could possibly be talking about. No one came to mind. Tim started looking a bit concerned, and Stephanie searched my face for answers. She wasn't going to find any.

"He's not going to show up, and even if he did, we don't need him. He'll cause issues; his methods are completely against everything we were taught-"

"-Dick, listen to me. This is serious, and we need him. He'll show up." Oracle went back to her screen. She was going through files, looking for something.

"Well you're not expecting us to wait on him are you?" He protested. No answer, which meant yes. The Cave echoed with the clicks of the keys on the keyboard and mouse. We stayed silent and waited for something to happen. I didn't mind keeping still and quite, I was actually more comfortable doing so. I wasn't shy, just...trained. We all were actually. None of us had nervous ticks, or the urge to talk; A group of well trained sidekicks. I could tell Nightwing was upset though, deep in thought. I studied his body language, looking for hints. He leaned against a chrome table, athletic arms crossed over his athletic chest. We all had athletic bodies, going back to the point that we were well trained. His long, shaggy, jet black hair covered his eyes as his head tilted downward. Tim stood beside him casually, just waiting to see what he would do next. The roar of an engine grabbed all of our attention, and the platform where the bat-mobile normally came in started to slowly go up. Two headlights blinded the next wall as a slick, stormy gray car swerved its way into the Cave, and screamed to a quick halt. A cocky driver, or an angry one. A leather jacket and cargo pants stepped out of the low to the ground sports car. The driver shook out his dark, almost black, brown hair as he took off a red helmet.

"Sorry I'm late, but I didn't know we'd have company" He gave a quick wave as he locked his car. Dick Grayson was instantly in Nightwing mode as he leaned his shoulders forward and tensed his arms to the side of his body. He was being defensive, protective almost. Tim Drake mimicked behind him, but more timid.

"This isn't exactly a welcoming committee" Dick almost showed teeth, like an angry dog.

"Don't worry Eagle Man, I'm only going to be here until the boys in blue are off my back, then I'm gone. I don't want to be here just as much as you don't want me to" Mr. Leather took post against a nearby railing. I started putting pieces of this jig saw puzzle together. The way he oh so casually leaned up against the railing, without looking for it, and the fact that he apparently knew how to get into the Cave without the front door showed that he knows this place very well, and that he doesn't have manners. He knew this place like the rest of us did which meant he was ...another Robin? A quick scan of the room and I notice a Robin suit displayed away from Dick, Tim, and Stephanie's. Even thought my reading skills weren't up to par, I'm sure the plaque mentioned something about a late Jason Todd. Late, as in dead?

"No one is making you be here, go hide in a hole until the cops move on"

"Isn't that what I'm doing?" He opened his arms to motion to the Cave. Oracle took her attention away from her searching to welcome our new guest...if guest was the right word.

"Say what you will Jason, I'm just glad you showed up" Oracle turned her chair around so she faced the rest of us. Jason, so he was the separated Robin suit, but that "late" part is still puzzling.

"To be continued, Dick Grayson. So now let's see who else Barbra dragged out of the dark. I'm assuming these two are fluttery little batgirls, I sure I've seen you swinging behind the head honcho before..." He looked in our direction, longer then I felt comfortable with. Even though his red helmet was off, he still wore a red mask around his eyes, cloaking them a bit, But you could still tell they were wild and angry.

"And the little mini me must be Tim Drake, boy he sure does like the make sure us Robins look alike" Tim narrowed his eye brows at the mention of his name.

"Hey, they aren't the only Robins here; I was a Batgirl and a Robin. So we don't all look alike, thank you very much" Stephanie stepped out in from beside me to get her point across. Good lord.

Jason raised an eye brow at the gesture. "Are you impressed with yourself?"

Stephanie looked around at everyone else, and then stepped back to her original post. So a final analysis on Jason Todd; He's an angry, dangerous person, based on his posture and interaction with the rest of us. From the way Grayson responded to him, he was an outcast, and not really welcomed. Someone I needed to keep an eye one, for protective purposes.

"That's enough of that, we need to get started, as I mentioned countless times before. This is serious." Barbra sucked in all of our attention and turned around back to the screen

-Stephanie Brown: Spoiler

I couldn't keep my eyes off of Jason Todd. I felt like if I let my guard down, he would snap my neck. I was almost afraid of him. I wanted to know why though. Why was a former Robin so...I couldn't find a word for it. While trying to keep an eye out for myself, I was also looking at the charts and graphs that Oracle was pulling up on the high-powered computer.

"What exactly are we looking at here?" I pointed to a specific graph with multiple factors.

"Gotham's Crime rate in the past 10 years. Are we looking for patterns?" Timmy Tim Drake, always being the smart detective. I wanted to roll my eyes and tell him to shut up, but I decided to stay professional, we weren't teenagers anymore.

"Yes, exactly" Oracle maximized the graph so we could see it better. It listed off Gotham's main villains; Joker, Two-Faced, Bain, Poison Ivy, Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, even The Penguin had his own section. I knew all of them, and have met most of them face to face, sometimes even face to foot.

"But there isn't any pattern, each criminal reaches a peak, and then goes back down as the other one goes up" Grayson pointed out.

"Yeah, Criminals don't really have a holiday season where we decide to be more...active. We just sort of do whatever "Jason crossed his arms and smirked. Grayson glared. We?

"Yes I know, but look at this year's crime rate." Barbra highlighted the section.

"It's lower than all the other years, you would think with the Bat missing, it would spike through the roof." More Grayson input.

"You think he's undercover, doing some serious smack down?" More Drake input; another urge to roll my eyes.

"I considered that, but then I noticed this." She pulled up another crime rate graph. This one was labeled Metropolis. The majority of the graph looked the same as the Gotham one, but were Gotham Crime rate was at an all time low, Metropolis was through the roof.

"Looks like we're going on a road trip" The two boy wonders fist bumped.

"So you expect us to just go to Metropolis city, and then what? It isn't exactly a one horse town." I tried to put in some reasoning.

"I know someone who can help us. We'll leave tomorrow. After resting. It's late." Cassandra Cain was monotone, and left the cave without another word. It was so hard to read that girl. No one else protested, no opinions were mentioned. I guess that was it. Tomorrow, Metropolis.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Dick Grayson: Nightwing

I stayed behind the pack to watch them each leave, mainly looking out for Todd. I didn't trust him. Not one bit. He doesn't like me; never did, and I don't like his attitude and methods. Let's just keep it simple and say we don't get along. Oracle stayed back waiting on me, while I waited on her. Eventually we came to a silent agreement to leave the cave together. Jason looked back at the two of us before leaving the cave, his facial expression disturbed me. Barbra and I went into low lit kitchen instead of going off to bed.

"I still don't understand why you called him. We can't trust him. He's...a freaking zombie!" I yelled in a hush whisper. Barbra just continued fixing a glass of tea. It was too dark in the room to read her face.

"Well, at least you're original." Jason was leaning up against the door frame. His mask was off now, eyes stabbing at me. I re positioned myself in front of Barbra. Protective instinct if you will.

"I thought you were leaving."

"How about you mind your own business, and I won' shoot your bird brains out." He never changed facial expressions.

"I could cause worse pain without a gun Todd." His treats with guns enraged me.

"Remember 'GRAYSON' I went through the same sidekick training you did, I know the same moves and blocks. The difference between you and I is the fact that my head isn't filled with the value of a human life." He was stepping in our direction, getting way to close for anyone to be comfortable with.

"That's not something I would exactly be proud of"

"That's another major difference between us" He almost smiled, if Jason Todd knew how to smile.

I didn't have a snappy comeback or a clever threat. Even when Jason was a young Robin I never knew how to deal with him; how to handle his juvenile attitude.

"Stop it, both of you." Barbra rolled out from behind me.

"Stay out of this" Jason said, never taking his eyes off of me.

"Maybe we should all just go to bed. If you're not here in the morning then so be it, but its late and we all need sleep" If Barbra was afraid of Todd, she had a nice way of not showing it.

Jason and I continued to glare at each other until he shook his head and walked away, up the stairs to the bedrooms.

"That means you too" Barbra's voice almost startled me.

"Yeah... yeah I know. Just give me some time to take everything in, I'll go to sleep soon I promise." I attempted to give her a charming hero smile. I guess it kind of worked, because she rolled her eyes as she rolled away. I leaned up against the kitchen sink and exhaled. There were way too many questions on my mind. Where was Batman? How were we going to find him? What were we going to find in Metropolis city? Was the big man in the flashy cape going to help us? What was I going to do about Jason Todd? My fast paced thinking was stopped by a newly formed shadow. Tim Drake entered the kitchen.

"You ok boss?" Tim crossed his arms and stood up tall. I never noticed how much he's actually grown up until now.

"Yeah kid I'm alright just got a lot on my mind. Like the rest of us" Tim just nodded his head, keeping his eyes shifted to the ground.

"So that's Jason Todd huh."

"Yeah...that's him. I'm not your authority or anything, but you should probably stay away from him. We can't trust him, any of us. "I tried to get my point across.

"I get uncomfortable every time he enters the room. How are we supposed to work with him if we can't trust him?" Tim Drake always knew how to point out flaws. He was a good detective.

"Don't worry its four against one. He'll leave."...One way or another. Tim just nodded his head in understanding.

"Are you afraid of him?"

"Terrified."


End file.
